e 

bulletin  of  the  university  of  OKLAHOMA 


NEW  SERIES  NO.  78 


DECEMBER  1913 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  OKLAHOMA 

QUARTERLY  BULLETIN 


THE  SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION 

1913-1914 

Department  of 

MEASUREMENT  EFFICIENCY  AND  STANDARDiZATilON 
Information  on 

EDUCATIONAL  STANDARDS 


NORMAN,  OKLAHOMA 
December  1913 


The  University  Bulletin,  published  by  the  university,  is  issued 
every  three  months  on  the  fifteenth  as  follows:  March,  June  Septem- 
ber, and  December.  Entered  at  the  postoffice  at  Norman,  as  second 
class  matter,  under  act  of  congress  of  July  16,  1894. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/informationoneduOOuniv 


DEPARTMENT  OF  MEASUREMENT 
EFFICIENCY  AND  STANDARDIZATION 


ORGANIZATION 

The  organization  of  the  department  of  measurement,  efficiency 
and  standardization  within  the  school  of  education  was  approved  by 
the  state  board  of  education  July  15,  1913,  and  work  was  begun,  Sep-* 
tember  1,  1913,  under  the  supervision  of  the  director  of  the  School  of 
Education,  Dr.  W.  W.  Phelan. 

Believing  that  the  work  of  standardization  is  one  of  the  most  vital 
movements  in  education  the  university  secured  Professor  Stuart  A. 
Courtis  the  originator  of  the  Courtis  Standard  Tests  in  Education  as 
consulting  director.  The  department  is  prepared  to  assist  superintend- 
ents, principals,  and  teachers  of  the  state  in  the  preparation  and  ex- 
amination of  papers  testing  their  schools. 

HISTORY 

During  the  last  few  years  the  movement  for  efficiency,  so  general 
in  the  industrial  world,  has  made  itself  felt  in  our  school  circles.  In 
England  Sir  Francis  Galton  was  first  to  begin  the  systematic  study  of 
mental  and  social  measurements.  In  the  United  States  Dr.  J.  M.  Rice 
the  editor  of  the  Forum  in  1902,  used  a rough  comparative  test  in  the 
measurement  of  6000  children  and  found  a great  waste  in  the  teach- 
ing efficiency  of  spelling  and  arithmetic. 

In  1908  Dr.  T.  W.  Stone  of  the  Farmville  State  Normal  School, 
Virginia,  tested  the  arithmetic  ability  of  6000  sixth  grade  children  in 
the  four  fundamental  operations  and  reasoning,  and  found  a great 
waste  in  the  pupil’s  time  and  efficiency.  Recently  Ayres,  Thorndike 
and  Freeman  have  each  given  a handwriting  scale  by  which  to  meas- 
ure the  efficiency  in  writing.  Cornman,  Suzzalo,  Wallin  and  Pearson, 
have  made  important  measurements  in  spelling,  and  Hillegas  and 
Thorndike  have  presented  a scale  of  measurement  for  English  compo- 
sition. 

From  1907  to  1910  Stuart  A.  Courtis  conducted  a series  of  ex- 
perimental tests  to  develop  methods  of  handling  the  testing  work  and 
to  ascertain  the  evaluation  of  units  of  effiiciency.  Since  then  he  has 
collected  over  100,000  records  of  children  in  Detroit,  Boston,  New  York 


4 


The  University  of  Oklahoma 

and  other  cities  from  which  he  has  drawn  his  eight  standards'  of 
scientific  measurement.  The  new  Courtis  measurements  consist  of 
three  sets  of  tests,  each  designed  for  a different  purpose.  These  are 
known  as  Series  A,  comprising  the  eight  standard  tests  in  arithmetic; 
Series  B,  a set  of  four  tests  in  the  four  fundamental  operations  of 
arithmetic  planned  to  secure  more  definite  objective  standards  than 
was  possible  with  series  A;  and  Series  C,  a set  of  six  tests  in  hand- 
writing, punctuation,  spelling  and  composition. 

PURPOSE 

The  use  of  educational  measurements  in  practical  school  work  is 
comparatively  recent.  The  technical  phases  of  the  work  were  not  in- 
cluded in  the  professional  training  of  most  teachers  and  superintend- 
ents of  more  than  five  years  experience. 

The  idea  of  scientific  measurement  has  met  with  general  accept- 
ance. Superintendents  everywhere  are  recognizing  the  necessity  for 
the  training  of  their  teachers  along  these  lines.  They  are  realizing 
more  and  more  the  educational  and  stimulating  effects  of  experiment- 
al work  upon  the  entire  teaching  force. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  department  of  measurement,  efficiency  and 
standardization  to  meet  the  growing  demand  of  education  to  measure 
the  work  of  the  school  children  and  to  substitute  for  mere  opinion 
exact  knowledge  derived  from  scientific  measurements  of  methods  and 
of  products. 

Therefore,  the  work  of  this  department  will  be  four-fold;  first,  a 
determination,  in  such  subjects  as  arithmetic,  handwriting,  spelling 
and  English  composition  and  other  branches  of  the  elementary  curric- 
ulum, of  the  existing  conditions  throughout  the  state,  and  of  the  im- 
provement resulting  to  pupils  after  a year’s  work  under  scientific 
measurement;  second,  the  collection  and  tabulation  of  these  results  for 
the  general  good  of  the  superintendents  and  the  teachers  of  the  state; 
third,  the  planning  and  supervising  of  experimental  work  designed  to 
improve  the  efficiency  of  existing  methods;  and  fourth,  the  laboratory 
examination  and  study  of  the  special  dfficulties  of  sub-normal  and 
super-normal  children. 

COST 

The  cost  of  testing  work  need  not  be  great.  The  Courtis  tests  are 
sold  without  profit  to  those  who  will  share  their  results  with  others. 
Copies  of  the  essential  records  are  made  upon  special  sheets  and  are 
sent  to  the  Department  of  Measurement,  Efficiency  and  Standardiza- 
tion at  the  University  for  tabulation  with  similar  results  from  other 
schools.  The  products  of  these  tabulations  are  shared  with  contribut- 
ing members,  but  no  names  are  disclosed  without  special  permission. 


The  School  of  Education  5 

On  this  co-operative  basis  the  university  will  supply  at  cost  the  Courtis 
tests  including  all  record  sheets  and  complete  instructions  for  use. 

The  (‘omplete  material  for  a single  test  costs  from  one  to  three 
cents  per  child,  depending  upon  the  work  attempted. 

The  time  required  for  the  Courtis  tests,  owing  to  time  saving  de- 
vices in  counting  and  scoring  papers,  and  tabulating  results,  is  reduced 
to  a miraimum. 

It  is  designed  to  issue  bulletins  from  time  to  time  giving  the  re- 
sults of  these  investigations.  As  data  accumulates  and  standards  of 
achievement  in  the  various  school  subjects  are  gained  these  results 
will  be  tabulated  for  the  guidance  of  the  schools  throughout  the  state. 

No  one  need  hesitate  to  take  part  in  this  work  because  of  any 
lack  in  preparation  since  definite  printed  directions  are  supplied  for 
every  step.  An  experimental  investigation  is  often  best  handled  by  a 
committee  of  teachers  appointed  after  a discussion  of  the  specific 
problems.  In  this  way  a superintendent  makes  his  meetings  effective 
for  teacher-training. 

The  School  of  Education  in  the  regular  and  summer  sessions  of  the 
university  conducts  special  courses  in  educational  measurements. 
Under  certain  conditions  the  department  will  be  able  to  supply  trained 
graduates  to  assist  in  giving  the  tests  and  thereby  aid  in  the  training 
of  teachers. 

Moreover  the  School  of  Education  in  special  cases  is  prepared  to 
allow  credit  for  testing  and  experimental  work  done  under  its  direction. 

■ GENERAL  PLAN 

The  first  work  of  the  Department  will  constitute  in  effect  a state- 
wide survey  of  conditions  in  Arithmetic,  Handwriting,  Spelling.  Punc- 
tuation, Grammar,  and  English  Composition.  One  or  more  of  the  fol- 
lowing investigations  should  be  given  as  introductory  tests,  making 
absolutely  no  preparations  for  them.  Further  tests  later  in  the  year 
will  then  show  the  changes  that  have  been  produced  by  teaching  ef- 
fort. The  immediate  need  however  is  to  secure  a measure  of  existing 
conditions. 


INVESTIGATIONS 

L The  Measurement  of  General  Conditions  in  Arithmetic. 

This  investigation  uses  Series  A of  the  Courtis  Standard  Tests. 
The  time  required  is  about  four  hours  per  class;  the  cost  about  three 
cents  per  child.' 

Series  A,  Arithmetic 

The  tests  of  this  series  are  the  original  Courtis  tests  in  Arithmetic 


6 


The  University  of  Oklahoma 


and  have  been  fully  standardized.  The  subject  matter  of  each  of  the 
eight  tests  in  this  series  is  as  follows; 

Test  No.  1.  Addition  1 


2.  Subtraction 

3.  Multiplication 


(Combinations  0 — 9) 


4.  Division  j 

5.  Copying  Figures  (Rate  of  Motor  Activity) 

6.  Speed  Reasoning  (Judgments  of  operations  to  be  used  in 
simple  one-step  problems) 

7.  Fundamentals  (Abstract  examples  in  the  four  operations) 

8.  Reasoning  (Two-step  problems) 

Series  A is  designed  to  measure  the  correlation  between  the  sim- 
pler abilities  of  the  first  six  tests,  and  the  more  complex  abilities  of 
Tests  7 and  8.  They  serve  their  purpose  admirably.  For  those  who 
believe  in  the  teaching  of  the  tables,  they  give  a view  of  the  com- 
pleteness and  balance  of  training  afforded  by  any  particular  school  as 
compared  with  the  average  achievements  of  schools  in  other  places, 
and  they  furnish  the  teacher  with  accurate  measures  of  the  peculiari- 
ties and  weaknesses  of  individuals  which  enable  him  to  adjust  his 
work  accordingly.  Three  editions  of  this  series,  equal  in  value  but 
differing  in  every  figure,  have  been  published,  so  that  repeated  tests 
may  be  made  either  during  one  year,  or  in  successive  years.  When 
this  is  done,  the  results  obtained  in  one  grade  may  be  passed  along 
with  the  child  for  the  guidance  of  teachers  in  the  higher  grades.  The 
Courtis  system  supplies  record  and  general  and  comparative  graph 
sheets  upon  which  the  individual  record  and  the  curves  for  the  differ- 
ent years  may  be  permanently  recorded. 

Tests  No.  1 and  No.  2 each  consist  of  120  examples  to  be  finished 
under  a time  limit  of  one  minute.  A portion  of  test  No.  2,  which  pre- 
sents the  plan  of  both  tests  is  given  below. 

Arithmetic — Test  No.  2.  Speed  Test — Subtraction 

Name School Grade 

Write  on  this  paper,  in  the  space  between  the  lines,  the  answers  to  as 
many  of  these  examples  as  possible  in  the  time  allowed* 


9 7 11  8 12 
0 3 6 1 3 


1 9 13  4 12 
0 7 8 3 6 


2 7 13  3 10 
1 5 8 2 5 


1 6 15  4 8 
1 3 9 2 3 


Tests  No.  3 and  No.  4 each  consist  of  120  examples  under  the 


The  School  of  Education  7 

time  limit  of  one  minute,  A portion  of  test  No.  3 which  presents  the 
plan  of  both  tests  is  given  below. 

Arithmetic — Test  No.  3.  Speed  Test — Multiplication 

Name School Grade 

Write  on  this  paper,  in  the  space  between  the  lines,  the  answers  to  as 
many  of  these  multiplication  examples  as  possible  in  the  time  allowed 

34905  42749 

27826  19605 


1 2 8 1 5 1 2 7 0 8 

95713  68763 


Test  No,  5 is  a speed  test  in  copying  figures.  It  contains  240 
printed  figures  which  are  to  be  copied  under  the  time  limit  of  one  min- 
ute. A portion  is  given  below. 

Arithmetic — Test  No.  5.  Speed  Test — Copying  Figures 

Name Schoool Grade 

Copy  on  this  paper,  in  the  space  between  the  lines,  as  many  of  the 
printed  figures  as  possible  in  the  time  allowed.  Write  as  rap- 
idly as  possible,  but  form  the  figures  as  carefully  as 
in  working  examples. 

24967  42976  62947 

26974  46927  64972 


Tests  No.  6.  and  No.  8 are  reasoning  tests  in  one  and  two  step 
problems  respectively.  The  first  is  a speed  test  of  16  examples  under 
a time  limit  of  one  minute;  the  second  contains  eight  problems  and  is 
to  be  finished  under  a time  limit  of  six  minutes.  A portion  of  No.  8 
is  given  below. 

Arithmetic — Test  No.  8.  Reasoning 

Name School Grade 

In  the  blank  space  below,  work  as  many  of  the  following  examples 
as  possible  in  the  time  allowed.  Work  them  in  order  as  numbered. 


8 


The  University  of  Oklahoma 

entering  each  answer  in  the  “answer”  column  before  commencing  a. 
new  example.  Do  not  work  on  any  other  paper. 

1.  A farmer  who  had  already  sold  1897  barrels 
of  apples  from  his  orchard  hired  59  boys  to  pick 
the  apples  left  on  his  trees.  Each  boy  picked  24 
barrels  of  apples.  What  was  the  total  number  of 
barrels  the  farmer  got  from  his  orchard  that  year? 

Test  No.  7 involves  the  four  fundhmental  operations  of  arithmetic 
and  while  part  of  the  Series  A experiment,  has  from  its  importance 
become  the  subject  of  a special  school  investigation.  It  is  presented 
as  investigation  number  II. 

II.  The  Measurement  of  the  Teaching  of  the  Four  Processes 
in  Arithmetic 

This  investigation  uses  test  No.  7,  of  Series  A,  of  the  Courtis 
Standard  Tests.  The  time  limit  is  twelve  minutes,  the  cost  about  one 
cent  per  child.  The  test  contains  fourteen  examples  in  the  four  fun- 
damental operations.  A portion  of  the  test  is  given  below. 

Arithmetic — Test  No.  7,  Fundamentals 

Name School Grade 

In  the  blank  space  below,  work  as  many  of  these  examples  as 
possible  in  the  time  allowed.  Work  them  in  order  as  numbered,  writ- 
ing each  answer  in  the  “answer”  column  before  commencing  a new 
example.  Do  not  work  on  any  other  paper. 


OPERATION 

EXAMPLE 

ANSWER 

Subtraction 

62132104—38396767= 

Multiplication 

56804x564= 

III.  The  Determination  of  Standards  in  each  of  the  Four  Fun- 
damental Processes. 

This  investigation  uses  Series  B of  the  Courtis  Standard  Tests. 
The  time  is  about  three  hours  per  class;  the  cost  about  two  cents  per 
child. 

Series  B,  Arithmetic 

The  results  from  these  tests  will  serve  to  indicate  the  needs  of  in- 
dividual children,  and  so  operate  as  to  improve  class  work.  This 
series  consists  of  four  test  sheets,  one  each  in  each  of  the  four  funda- 
mental processes. 

The  work  done  with  Series  A has  proved  that  the  basic  problem 


ANSWER 


The  School  of  Education  9 

in  education  today  is  that  of  ministering  adequately  to  individual 
needs.  The  first  step  toward  this  end  is  the  formulation  of  definite 
objective  standards.  The  standards  derived  from  the  use  of  Series  A, 
are  complex. 

Accordingly,  Series  B represents  an  attempt  to  secure  defiinite  ob- 
jective standards  for  each  of  the  four  operations  with  whole  numbers, 
addition,  subtraction,  multiplication  and  division.  On  the  basis  of  the 
knowledge  gained  from  Series  A,  a test  has  been  constructed  for  each 
operation  to  serve  as  a general  measure  of  ability  in  that  operation. 

Test  No.  1 in  addition  consists  of  24  examples,  each  example  three 
columns  wide,  each  column  nine  figures  long.  The  figures  are  so 
chosen  that  all  the  fundamental  combinations  are  represented.  The 
time  allowance  is  eight  minutes.  The  test  as  a whole  and  in  its  com- 
ponent parts  is  thus  long  enough  to  measure  whether  or  not  a child  or 
class  has  learned  (1)  the  fundamental  combinations;  (2)  the  mechan- 
ism of  column  addition;  (3)  to  carry;  (4)  to  bridge  the  attention  spans; 
( 5 ) to  control  the  effects  of  fatigue;  ( 6 ) to  work  at  the  proper  speed ; 
and  ( 7 ) with  proper  accuracy.  When  this  test  is  standardized,  it  will 
be  possible  to  set  for  each  grade  just  the  degrees  of  skill  in  addition 
that  is  within  the  reach  of  the  average  child.  A portion  of  test  No.  1 
is  given  belov/. 


Arithmetic — Test  No.  I.  Addition 
You  will  be  given  eight  minutes  to  find  the  answers  to  as  many  of 
these  addition  examples  as  possible.  Write  the  answers  on  this  paper 
directly  underneath  the  examples.  You  are  not  expected  to  be  able 
to  do  them  all.  You  will  be  marked  for  both  speed  and  accuracy,  but 
it  is  more  important  to  have  your  answers  right  than  to  try  a great 
many  examples. 


927 

297 

136 

486 

384 

379 

925 

340 

765 

477 

756 

473 

988 

524 

881 

837 

983 

386 

140 

266 

924 

315 

353 

812 

679 

110 

661 

904 

466 

241 

854 

794 

547 

355 

796 

956 

177 

192 

834 

850 

344 

124 

439 

567 

733 

Test  No.  2 in  subtraction  consists  of  24  examples  similar  in  com- 
plexity to  test  No.l  but  under  a time  allowance  of  four  minutes. 

Test  No.  3 in  multiplication  consists  of  25  examples  under  a time 
limit  of  six  minutes.  A portion  of  this  test  is  given  below. 


10 


The  University  of  Oklahoma 

Arithmetic — Test  No.  3.  Multiplication 
You  will  be  given  six  minutes  to  work  as  many  of  these  multipli- 
cation examples  as  possible.  You  are  not  expected  to  be  able  to  do 
them  all.  Do  your  work  directly  on  this  paper;  use  no  other.  You 
will  be  marked  for  both  speed  and  accuracy,  but  it  is  more  important 
to  get  correct  answers  than  to  try  a large  number  of  examples. 


8246 

7843 

4837 

3478 

29 

702 

83 

15 

9357 

9256 

9735 

5927 

62 

73 

49 

58 

Test  No.  4 in  division  consists  of  24  examples  similar  in  complex- 
ity to  test  No.  3 but  under  a time  limit  of  eight  minutes. 

IV.  The  Determination  of  Standards  in  English  Composition. 

Handwriting,  spelling,  punctuation,  etc.  Time  required,  four  or 
more  hours;  cost  about  2 cents  per  child. 

Series  C,  English 


The  tests  in  English  have  also  been  made  necessary  by  the  work 
done  with  Series  A.  The  problem  of  teaching  reasoning  in  Arithmetic, 
judging  by  the  results  so  far  secured,  will  probably  prove  in  the  last 
analysis  to  be  mainly  a problem  of  teaching  children  to  read  under- 
standingly.  As,  however,  it  was  impossible  to  measure  ability  to  read 
without  at  the  same  time  securing  material  for  evaluating  the  ability 
to  write,  arrangements  have  been  made  for  scoring  the  papers  of  these 
tests  in  respect  to  handwriting,  punctuation,  spelling,  grammar  and 
English  composition.  The  series  as  a whole  measures  a few  of  the 
more  important  fundamental  abilities  involved  in  English  work  in  the 
grammar  grades,  and  as  such  is  by  far  the  most  important  testing 
work  yet  attempted. 

The  tests  of  the  series  are  six  in  number,  and  the  subjects  are  as 
follows: 

Test  No.  1.  Handwritihg. 

2.  Dictation. 

3.  Original  Story. 

4.  Normal  Reading. 

5.  Careful  Reading. 

6.  Reproduction. 


The  School  of  Education  11 

The  standards  to  be  derived  from  the  giving  of  these  tests  are: 

1.  Standards  of  quality  in  penmanship  for  each  grade. 

2.  Standard  rates  of  reading  and  of  comprehension. 

3.  Standard  grades  in  English  composition  work  of  simple  narra- 
tion. 

4.  Standard  bases  of  judgments  of  efficiency  in  teaching  of  hand- 
writing, -punctuation,  spelling  and  syntax. 

In  addition,  many  correlations  between  abilities  are  possible  that 
will  throw  a great  deal  of  light  upon  the  causes  of  differences  in  the 
teaching  of  English  in  different  schools. 

This  series  of  English  tests  will  be  welcomed  by  many  teachers 
who  have  followed  the  work  of  Thorndike  and  Ayers  in  Handwriting, 
and  of  Rice,  Hillegas,  and  Bliss  in  English,  but  who  have  not  had  the 
professional  training  necessary  to  make  constructive  use  of  the  stand- 
ards evolved.  Series  C has  been  issued  in  an  attempt  to  set  definite 
problems,  and  to  supply  the  materials,  conditions,  record  sheets,  etc., 
necessary  to  make  co-operative  solution  of  these  problems  possible. 
In  handwriting,  for  example,  no  new  scale  will  be  issued,  at  least  not 
at  present,  but  provision  has  been  made  both  in  the  instructions  and 
in  the  record  sheets  for  scoring  the  samples  of  handwriting  secured  by 
either  the  Thorndike  scale,  or  the  Ayers  scale,  or  by  both.  In  similar 
fashion  in  the  rest  of  the  English  work,  use  will  be  made  of  the  best 
products  of  the  experiments  already  completed. 

Ability  in  English  is  a complex  made  up  of  many  component  ele- 
ments. It  should  be  recognized  that  Series  C represents  a first  attack 
upon  a few  of  the  simpler  phases  of  the  subject  only.  At  the  same 
time,  these  few  are  fundamental  and  the  results  promise  to  prove  of 
the  greatest  value.  The  standardization  of  these  tests  will  be  the 
main  work  of  the  year. 

The  tests  in  Series  C in  dictation,  punctuation,  spelling,  composi- 
tion and  the  rate  of  normal  reading  and  careful  reading  and  the  gen- 
eral powers  of  reproduction  are  based  on  a simple  story  with  its 
accompanying,  picture.  The  test  in  handwriting  which  is  part  of  the 
Series  C tests  has,  because  of  its  general  importance,  been  made  the 
subject  of  a special  investigation.  Accordingly  it  is  explained  as 
investigation  V. 

V.  The  Determination  of  Standards  in  Handwriting. 

Time  required,  about  two  hours  per  class;  cost,  about  2 cents  per 
child.  A portion  of  the  test  sheet  is  printed  below. 


12 


The  University  of  Oklahoma 

English — Test  No.  I.  Handwriting 


Copy  as  many  letters  as  possible  in  the  time  allowed.  Write  at 
the  highest  speed  at  which  you  can  make  well  formed,  legible  writing. 


e/ac^ 

/cielc 

% 

iM/ati 

meiuS 

^€te£ii 

/int-no 

cieom-  lu/iel 


SELECTION  OF  TESTS 

Care  should  be  taken  to  choose  the  series  of  tests  that  best  suits 
the  purpose  in  mind.  All  the  tests,  however,  are  published  for  the 
solution  of  real  problems,  and  call  for  serious  work.  Accordingly,  for 
those  who  wish  to  do  as  little  work  as  possible, — merely  to  give  a sin- 
gle test  to  see  the  nature  and  results  of  the  testing  work, — Test  7, 
Series  A,  and  a special  series  of  folders,  record  sheets,  etc,,  has  been 
prepared  to  be  given  singly.  Test  7 is  a general  measure  of  the  ability 
to  add,  subtract,  multiply  and  divide  with  whole  numbers.  By  means 
of  it,  a teacher  or  superintendent  can  measure  the  general  efficiency 


The  School  of  Education 


13 

of  his  work  in  Arithmetic  in  relation  to  the  work  done  in  other  schools 
as  well  as  gain  a good  idea  of  the  Courtis  system.  The  cost  for  all  the 
supplies  including  instructions,  record  and  graph  sheets  is  about  one 
cent  per  child.  The  v/ork  of  scoring  and  tabulating  the  results  from  a 
class  of  fifty  children  will  take  about  an  hour  and  a half. 

Series  B is  for  those  who  wish  to  undertake  constructive  remedial 
work  in  the  four  operations  only.  The  results  from  a test  in  Septem:- 
ber  will  show  at  once  what  children  fall  below  standard  in  each  opera- 
tion. A second  test  in  June  will  measure  the  degree  of  success  or 
failure  in  overcoming  the  defects.  In  estimating  the  cost  Of  the  neces- 
sary material,  allow  two  cents  per  child.  The  tests  can  be  given  in  a 
single  school  period. 

Series  A and  Series  C make  possible  more  elaborate  experimental 
investigations  in  Arithmetic  and  English  respectively.  Series  A will 
be  of  most  value  to  those  who  wish  to  measure  the  balance  of  the 
course  of  study,  the  effects  of  special  methods,  and  to  work  on  kindred 
problems.  The  cost  is  about  three  cents  per  child.  If  the  results  are 
to  be  used  for  remedial  work,  graphs  of  the  scores  of  individuals  should 
be  drawn  on  the  comparative  graph  sheet.  The  total  cost  will  then  be 
about  four  cents  per  child.  The  tests  are  given  in  two  school  periods, 
one  each  day,  and  will  require  about  four  hours  outside  work  per  class. 

Series  C is  peculiar  in  that  the  same  material  may  be  scored  in 
many  different  ways.  The  money  cost  for  the  necessary  material  is 
about  two  cents  per  child,  but  the  time  cost  will  vary  from  one  hour 
to  eight  or  ten,  depending  upon  the  abilities  scored.  It  is  expected, 
however,  that  the  more  important  results  can  be  secured  by  an  ex- 
penditure of  four  or  five  hours  time.  Series  C also  requires  two  school 
periods,  one  each  day. 

BENEFITS 

The  benefits  to  be  received  from  the  use  of  the  tests,  v/ill  of 
course  be  determined  by  the  care  and  attention  given  to  the  work. 
Just  as  the  value  of  a foot  rule  depends  entirely  upon  the  needs,  skill 
and  the  ingenuity  of  the  person  using  it,  so  the  value  of  the  Courtis 
tests  is  limited  only  by  the  limitations  of  the  user.  However,  the  in- 
creased attention  paid  to  regular  work  by  teachers  because  tests  have 
been  or  are  to  be  given,  and  the  stimulating  effects  of  new  points  of 
view,  insure  certain  benefit  from  testing  work.  On  the  other  hand, 
'measurement  in  education  has  come  to  stay  because  by  means  of  it 
those  who  know  how  can  improve  at  once  the  efficiency  of  their  work 
from  ten  to  fifty  percent. 

CONCLUSION 

This  circular  has  been  sent  to  you  because  your  co-operation  will 
materially  increase  the  success  of  a v/ork  of  importance  to  the  entire 


14 


The  University  of  Oklahoma 

«iucational  world.  Radical  readjustments  are  about  to  be  made  in 
educational  methods  and  educational  thought,  and  it  is  imperative 
that  such  re-adjustments  be  made,  not  upon  mere  guesswork  or  per- 
sonal opinion,  but  upon  a solid  basis  of  measured  fact.  Definite  infor- 
mation must  be  secured  as  to  the  product  of  school  work  under  present 
conditions.  Your  co-operation  in  the  standardization  of  Series  B and 
C is  most  earnestly  solicited. 

The  experiences  of  many  teachers  and  superintendents  prove  that 
you  personally  will  be  repaid  for  the  study,  time,  and  money  you  may 
have  to  give  to  any  testing  work  you  attempt.  The  greater  your  pro- 
fessional ability,  the  more  successful  you  will  be  in  applying  the  re- 
sults immediately  to  the  improvement  of  your  classes  or  schools.  You 
will  find,  also,  that  one  result  of  your  own  investigations  will  be  a 
greater  appreciation  of  the  findings  of  the  school  inquiries  which  are 
being  conducted  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  an  added  interest 
in  the  articles  on  scientific  measurement  that  are  appearing  in  the 
current  magazines. 

Address  all  correspondence  to 

W.  W.  PHELAN,  Ph.D., 

Director,  School  of  Education, 
University  of  Oklahoma, 

Norman,  Oklahoma. 


The  University  Bulletin  has  been  established  by  the  university. 
The  reasons  that  have  led  to  such  a step  are:  first,  to  provide  a means 
to  set  before  the  people  of  Oklahoma,  from  time  to  time,  information 
about  the  work  of  the  different  departments  of  the  university;  and,^ 
second,  to  provide  a way  for  the  publishing  of  departmental  reports, 
papers,  theses,  and  such  other  matter  as  the  university  believes 
would  be  helpful  to  the  cause  of  education  in  our  state.  The  Bulletin 
will  be  sent  post  free  to  all  who  apply  for  it.  The  university  desires 
especially  to  exchange  with  other  schools  and  colleges  for  similar 
publications. 

Communications  should  be  addressed; 

THE  UNIVERSITY  BULLETIN 
University  Hall, 

Norman,  Oklahoma. 


Oklahoma  University  Press 


